Newsview: 3 crises define Bush presidency

[sabra]

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/12644520.htm

Newsview: 3 crises define Bush presidency

Associated Press

WASHINGTON - It's August in Crawford, Texas, and President Bush is on vacation. His poll ratings are slumping. He hears warnings of a looming crisis that will soon change the course of his presidency. Is this August 2001? Or August 2005?

The answer is both. Historians will ultimately judge Bush's presidency based on his leadership through two tragedies - the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and Hurricane Katrina, plus a conflict of his own design: The war in Iraq.

Katrina's lethal aftermath revealed that the Bush administration didn't learn valuable lessons from the 2001 attacks about responding to disasters. As for the president himself, since the Sept. 11 terror strikes, Bush seems to have lost his touch for connecting with an anxious public.

"This is someone who has staked his presidency on strong leadership through crises, and now he has faced three major challenges," said Charles Franklin, a University of Wisconsin political science professor. "Sept. 11 fundamentally altered what this administration is going to be remembered for, which is the response to terrorism, the Iraq war and now obviously Katrina and the aftermath."

[marmar]

1. Report Card:

9/11 response - F
Iraq War - F-
Katrina - You guessed it!

[sabra]

2. Barbara isn't going to be happy :-)

[Toots]

3. Failed Presidency

"Who could have known?" :shrug:

[Jon8503]

6. Yeah, you are right, F on everything the guy has done. Is it just me

or what. I have never seen what I considered as great leadership from the 9/11. The MSM always makes a big deal about the "bullhorn" event. Hell, instead of the bullhorn, you need to look at what came out of 9/11.

What kind of defenses did we throw up to prevent the next one?

Are we now better prepared for the next terrorist attack should there be one?

Did we go in the right direction by going to Iraq after 9/11?

If so what is the connection?

Could we have been better prepared by spending the money we have and are spending in our own country for defense, such as more police officers, better wages for police officers, border control, better technology for our power grids, ship yards, borders, security in general?

Out of these questions I ask myself, I do not see a great leader in our commander in chief.

[marmar]

8. Exactly....

He had the opportunity to unite the world on a global antiterrorism agenda after 9/11, instead he opted for unilateralism, a disastrous war that's alienated longtime allies, the curtailing of freedom here at home, a shifting of resources away from anti-terrorism to war, and a massive deficit we'll be lucky if we ever pay off
It's almost like this was meant to happen - the unprecedented fraud election of 2000 and everything since. Every great nation in history has had its Nero. I hate to be such the doomsdayer, but maybe he's ours.

[Nite Owl]

4. I'll never understand

why 9-11 was considered a positive for him. He failed completely. NYers knew it and voted against him in '04, if he was so good why didn't they stick with him.

[sabra]

5. 9/11 is his shining moment.

Now if it was Al Gore, it would be the cause of him not getting re-elected... Makes sense, nope.

[BurtWorm]

7. This is absolutely key: Katrina showed they learned ZIP from 9/11

which was supposed to be their touchstone. We knew better. Katrina dumped what we (and most of the world) knew in every American's lap.

[milkyway]

9. AP's headline should read, "3 Historic Failures define Bush presidency" nt

[The_Casual_Observer]

10. Or is it "Mein Kampf"